It was a sombre evening under the lights in Yorkshire, with a minute of applause before kick-off was held in memory of the great Sir Bobby Charlton, whose passing was announced earlier in the day. Once the game started, the hosts got off to the stronger start as Andre Onana was called into action within three minutes to thwart Oli McBurnie.
The Blades continued to dominate throughout the first half without overly threatening the United goal, and instead it was the Red Devils who opened the scoring near the half-hour mark. The man of the moment for club and country, Scott McTominay continued his rich vein of goalscoring form by chesting a ball in the box from Bruno Fernandes and volleying past a stranded Wes Foderingham.
However, the Scotsman then had a hand in Sheffield United equalising almost immediately after the ball struck his arm in the box, and his international teammate McBurnie buried the resultant spot-kick.
Erik ten Hag’s men responded well before the break with Fernandes hitting a free-kick against the crossbar, and Rasmus Hojlund was denied by Foderingham from close range, as the Dutch manager was once again required to inspire his players to victory in his half-time team talk.
Instead, it was Paul Heckingbottom’s outfit who started better after the break as Onana was twice called into action early on, first saving from Oliver Norwood, and then tipping substitute Rhian Brewster’s shot over the bar.
Ten Hag himself turned to his bench, making a triple substitution on the hour mark, a move that certainly sharpened up the visitors who had assumed total control of the contest. Sofyan Amrabat was next to threaten, striking the woodwork for the Red Devils after smashing the upright with a piledriver from the edge of the box.
Despite the attacking changes, it was United’s two full-backs who combined for their second goal. Victor Lindelof picked out Diogo Dalot outside the box, and the Portuguese international rifled a powerful shot into the top corner despite Foderingham’s best efforts.
A second fightback wouldn't be forthcoming, leaving the Blades rooted to the foot of the table with just one point from their first nine matches. Ten Hag's men lifted themselves into the top-eight, as they won back-to-back away league matches for the first time in 2023.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
Check out all the match stats with Flashscore.
